Suspect, victim named in stabbing

A 58-year-old man was fatally stabbed at an apartment complex in the 1500 block of North Wheeler Street at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday.

Daniel Ross Coffey, 59, of Victoria, was arrested by officers at 11:54 a.m. Tuesday on suspicion of felony murder in the stabbing death of William Giesalhart, of Victoria, according to a news release.

Giesalhart died at a Victoria hospital as a result of the stabbing, police said.

Coffey was under the care of Mid-Coast Family Center, said his mother, Patricia Sassman, 80, of Port Lavaca.

Coffey, who is addicted to alcohol and involved with drugs, had been clean for about six months, his mother said. But he was under the influence of alcohol Tuesday morning when an altercation broke out at his apartment.

Police have not released a motive for the stabbing, police spokeswoman Sgt. Eline Moya said.

But Sassman said she was told Coffey may have acted in self-defense.

Neighbors near the complex said they did not hear anything leading up to the stabbing.